43
30
Infantile Mortality.
67. The numbers of deaths of infants under one year were :-
Chinese
Non-Chinese
6,916
38
If the figures for the Chinese births registered represented the total births, which they do not, the infantile mortality rate for this race would be 525.28 as compared with 617.42 which was the equally incorrect rate for the previous year. Allowing that only one third of the births are registered this would still mean a very high infantile mortality figure.
The mortality rate among the non-Chinese was 97.93 as compared with 61.85 in 1931.
The Dumping of the Dead.
68. The following table shows the number of unknown dead bodies found by the Police in the streets and elsewhere during the last five years:-
:
31
Vital Statistics of European Officials.
70. Number of Europeans (excluding temporary
school mistresses)
Average number on leave
Average number resident in the Colony
Number invalided during 1932:-
(a) when on leave at home
(b) in the Colony
Number died during 1982:-
(a) on the way home (b) in the Colony
897
73
824
1
4
5
12
(c) when on leave at home
1
14
1928
1929
1930
1931 1932
Victoria
358
706
418
366
382
Kowloon
...1,077
1,072
669
738
884
Harbour
Elsewhere
139
164
126
115
79
106
91
103
76
82
Total
..1,680
2,033
1,316
1,295
1,427
92 per cent of the bodies dumped are children the majority being infants. The number for males exceeds that for females.
Vital Statistics of European Civilian Population.
69. The Europeans and Americans resident in the Colony numbered 8,800, of whom 6,800 were British. The majority of Europeans and Americans are treated by private practitioners when ill and figures are not available for calculating incidence rates,
There were 283 deaths among the 8,800, giving a death rate of 14.1 per mille.
PART II-HEALTH CONDITIONS.
General Remarks,
71. In the absence of some system of registration of sickness the only sources of information available are the death returns, the returns of notifiable diseases, and the figures furnished by the Government Hospitals and the Western clinics of the Chinese Hospitals. The number of deaths recorded indicates very cor- rectly the deaths which have taken place in the Colony but the figures regarding general diseases are only a fraction of the whole and too much importance should not be placed on deduc- tions made from them. Though the educated Chinese appreciate the value of Western medicine the bulk of the population still pin their faith to the old fashioned Chinese decoctions and, when ill, seek advice from one or other of the many empiricists or herbalists who practise in the Colony. A number of those who enter the Government Hospitals do so only after they have made full trial of Chinese Medicines and when their disease is well advanced.
72. Year by year, however, the value of Western medicine becomes more and more appreciated. Proof of this is the ever- increasing number who attend the outpatient departments of Government Hospitals or seek admission to the wards. Another proof is the success of the Infant Welfare Clinic which was opened in Wanchai on 25th April and which has become so popular that there is need of further accommodation.
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